WHY 

THE  RED  CROSS 

Needs  a  War  Fund 
of 

$100,000,000 


I 


PROCLAMATION  OF  RED  CROSS  WEEK 


INASMUCH  as  our  thoughts  as  a  nation  are 
now  turned  in  united  purpose  towards  the 
performance  to  the  utmost  of  the  services  and 
duties  which  we  have  assumed  in  the  cause  of 
justice  and  liberty. 

INASMUCH  as  but  a  small  proportion  of  our 
people  can  have  the  opportunity  to  serve  upon 
the  actual  field  of  battle,  but  all  men,  women  and 
children  alike  may  serve  and  serve  effectively 
by  making  it  possible  to  care  properly  for  those 
who  do  serve  under  arms  at  home  and  abroad. 

AND  INASMUCH  as  the  American  Red  Cross 
is  the  official  recognized  agency  for  voluntary 
effort  in  behalf  of  the  armed  forces  of  the  nation 
and  for  the  administration  of  relief. 

Now,  therefore,  by  virtue  of  my  authority  as 
President  of  the  United  States  and  President  of 
the  American  Red  Cross,  I,  Woodrow  Wilson,  do 
hereby  proclaim  the  week  ending  June  25,  1917, 
as  Red  Cross  Week  during  which  the  people  of 
the  United  States  will  be  called  upon  to  give 
generously  and  in  a  spirit  of  patriotic  sacrifice 
for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  this  work  of 
national  need. 

WooDEOw  Wilson. 


Washington,  D.  C,  May  25,  1917. 


THE  CALL  TO  RAISE  A  WAR  FUND  OF 
$100,000,000. 


Remarks  on  behalf  of  the  War  Council  of  the 
American  Red  Cross,  made  by  the  chairman, 
Henry  P.  Davison,  to  delegates  from 
American  Red  Cross  Chapters  assembled  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  May  24  and  25,  1917. 

The  most  stupendous  and  appealing  call  in 
the  history  of  the  world  to  aid  suffering  human- 
ity confronts  our  Bed  Cross.  Millions  of  men 
who  have  been  fighting  for  liberty  lie  dead  or 
wounded;  millions  of  women  and  children  are 
homeless  and  helpless;  hundreds  of  towns  and 
villages  have  been  destroyed;  disease  and  distress 
are  rampant. 


3 


Up  to  now,  our  own  people  have  not  suffered. 
While  Europe  has  been  pouring  out  her  life- 
blood,  America  has  experienced  a  prosperity  she 
had  never  known  before. 

But  now  we  ourselves  are  in  this  gigantic  war. 
We  now  see  that  the  struggle  against  autocracy, 
and  tyranny  which  our  Allies  have  been  making 
is  and  has  from  the  first  been,  in  reality,  no  less 
our  struggle  than  theirs.  We  ourselves  must 
now  share  the  sutf ering  which  they  have  endured ; 
we,  too,  must  bear  the  burdens  and  we  must  do 
our  part  in  a  real  way. 

The  Red  Cross  a  vital  factor  in  the  war. 

Our  Red  Cross  is  a  vital  factor  in  the  strug- 
gle. To  promote  efficiency  in  administering  its 
great  responsibilities,  the  President  of  the 
United  States  has  created  a  Eed  Cross  War 
Council.  We  of  the  Council  know  now  only 
what  the  minimum  requirements  are.  But  we 
know  already  that  the  needs  which  our  Red  Cross 
can  alone  supply  are  at  present  beyond  com- 
putation. 

I  would  like  to  call  your  attention  to  the  par- 
ticular difficulty  there  is  in  explaining  with  any 
definiteness  a  program  or  outlining  a  budget  for 
the  expenditure  of  money.  The  field  is  so  broad, 
the  demands  so  great,  that  we  can  not  form  a 
campaign  or  form  a  budget  until  we  know  in 
which  direction  we  are  to  move. 


4 


Of  course,  our  first  obligation  is  to  our  people 
at  home.  It  is  very  difficult  to  estimate,  even  to 
approximately  estimate,  the  requirements  here. 
As  to  other  parts  of  the  world,  it  is  absolutely 
impossible.  That  estimate  can  only  be  definitely 
made  and  presented  when  we  know  the  amount 
of  money  we  have  to  expend. 

The  vision  that  the  War  Council  has  of  the 
Red  Cross  is  a  very  great  one.  The  Eed  Cross 
is  a  recognized  official  organization  to  carry  on 
a  humanitarian  work.  It  is  the  recognized  in- 
ternational organization  in  all  the  civilized 
countries  of  the  world — and  I  might  also  add, 
in  Germany. 

AVe  are  now  facing  a  situation  the  like  of 
which  has  never  before  existed.  It  is  most  im- 
portant that  every  man  and  every  woman  in 
this  room  carry  back  from  Washington  some 
sense  of  that  obligation,  som.e  idea  of  what  the 
people  of  this  country  are  looked  to  to  supply 
if  we  are  going  to  begin  our  work. 


We  shall  need  $100,000,000— and  more! 

We  ask  for  $100,000,000.  It  is  a  large  sum  of 
money,  but,  believe  me,  the  people  of  this  country 
are  not  only  going  to  supply  that  one  hundred 
million,  but  a  very  great  deal  more ! 

There  has  been  some  question  about  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  Red  Cross  and  its  particular  field 


5 


of  work.  If  the  Red  Cross  is  to  be  the  recognized 
organization  through  which  this  work  must  be 
carried  on,  it  must  work  in  many  new  fields,  in 
many  new  ways. 

Our  great  trouble  today  is  that  our  people 
do  not  realize  the  situation  throughout  the 
countries  now  at  war.  They  must  be  made  to 
realize  them,  and  the  obligation  upon  us  is  to 
see  that  it  is  done  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  Red  Cross  is  doing  a  noble  work.  And, 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  it  is  an  obligation  upon 
every  man,  woman  and  child  in  this  country.  I 
hope  that  it  will  be  sufficiently  well  realized  that 
we  shall  not  only  enjoy  the  satisfaction  of  con- 
tributing our  energies  and  our  money,  but  we  will 
also  have  thereby  received  a  very  great  benefit. 

We  need  a  sense  of  sacrifice. 

Certainly  there  is  nothing  that  this  people 
need  more  than  a  sense  of  sacrifice.  This  is  no 
time  to  listen  to  the  man  who  says,  "I  am  con- 
tributing so  much  here  and  so  much  there,  taxes 
are  very  high,  and  the  cost  of  living  is  growing.'' 

The  question  of  opportunity  comes  up — 
whether  we  shall  do  it  at  this  time  or  another 
time.  There  is  no  calendar  on  the  battlefield. 
There  is  no  awaiting  for  conditions  there,  and 
we  cannot  wait  for  conditions  here. 

There  are  many  very  fine  activities  through 


6 


other  organizations  throughout  all  parts  of  this 
country,  born  of  the  very  best  spirit,  based  on 
patriotism,  on  something  of  appreciation  of  the 
needs.  In  our  campaign  we  can  have  but  one 
thing  in  mind,  and  that  is  the  Eed  Cross.  It 
must  be  the  Red  Cross  first,  last  and  all  the  time, 
because  if  we  begin  to  recognize  this  agency  or 
that  agency,  we  will  lessen  our  effectiveness,  and 
no  one  will  succeed. 

Appreciating  the  importance  of  that,  and  rec- 
ognizing the  fine  work  these  fine  organizations 
are  doing,  a  committee  has  been  appointed  by  the 
War  Council,  with  Judge  Robert  S.  Lovett,  Chair- 
man of  the  Board  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad, 
at  its  head  to  coordinate  the  work  of  these 
organization  with  the  Red  Cross.  Where  there 
is  duplication,  where  there  is  waste  of  effort, 
that  committee  will  recommend  to  this  activity 
or  that  activity  that  bring  its  influence  in 
through  the  Red  Cross.  Their  character, 
fine  personnel,  fine  pride,  and  that  proper 
esprit  de  corps,  which  makes  them  feel 
that  they  want  to  live  in  history,  should  be 
recognized.  We  should  say  to  such  an  organiza- 
tion, ''You  are  doing  a  fine  work.  We  need  your 
organization.  We  ask  you  to  continue,  and  we 
would  like  you  to  continue  under  your  own 
name,  but  in  cooperation  with  our  organization." 

The  great  patriotic  movements  throughout  the 
country  should  be  driven  in  a  way  which  will 


7 


be  the  most  effective;  and  as  the  Red  Cross  is 
the  recognized  official  organization,  there  seemed 
but  one  thing  to  do,  and  that  was  to  coordinate 
them  through  our  Eed  Cross. 

Our  first  duty  is  at  home. 

First,  our  duty  is  at  home.  We  hope  never 
to  be  found  wanting  here.  We  hope,  and  we 
have  every  reason  to  hope,  that  through  an 
organization  to  be  effected  by  Mr.  Hurley,  there 
Avill  be  no  camp,  after  mobilization  in  this 
country,  which  will  not  be  supplemented  by  the 
Red  Cross.  Of  course,  the  position  of  the  Red 
Cross  relative  to  our  own  army  is  that  purely 
of  supplementing  our  medical  department. 

Something  of  what  we  must  expect  to  do  and 
something  of  the  sacrifices  which  we  must  ex- 
pect to  make  will  be  indicated  by  the  following 
summary  of  the  very  present  situation : 

Work  to  be  done  abroad. 

Hundreds  of  American  doctors  and  nurses 
are  already  at  the  front.  A  force  of  12,000 
American  engineers  will  soon  be  rebuilding 
the  railroads  of  France.  Upwards  of  25,000 
American  men  are  now  on  the  battlefields  of 
Europe,   fighting  as   volunteers   in  the  Allied 


8 


armies;  soon,  25,000  American  regulars  will  be 
added  to  their  number.  All  our  National 
Guard  is  to  be  mobilized,  our  regular  Army  is 
to  be  recruited  to  full  strength,  and  500,000 
other  men  are  shortly  to  be  called  to  the  colors. 
Within  a  few  months  we  should  and  will  have 
in  service  an  army  of  1,000,000  and  a  navy 
of  150,000  men. 

These  men  must  have  of  our  best.  To  pre- 
pare against  their  needs  in  advance  will  be  a 
stupendous  task  which  the  Red  Cross  must 
undertake.  Doctors,  nurses,  ambulances,  must  be 
made  ready.  Vast  quantities  of  hosi)ital  stores, 
linen,  bandages  and  supplies  of  every  kind 
must  be  prepared  and  at  once.  If  we  wait,  it 
may  be  too  late.  When  we  ask  our  own  sons  and 
brothers  to  fight  for  our  liberty  3,000  miles  from 
home  in  a  country  already  sore  and  afflicted, 
surely  we  cannot  do  less  than  prepare  to  take 
care  of  them  in  their  day  of  suffering. 


What  Canada  and  England  have  done. 

Gallant  Canada  from  8,000,000  population 
raised  an  army  of  450,000  men.  Eighty  thousand 
are  dead  or  injured,  and  Canada  has  raised  in 
value  $16,000,000  for  the  Red  Cross  to  relieve  her 
sick  and  wounded.  Her  Red  Cross,  thus  vitalized 
by  the  sacrifice  of  those  at  home,  has  been  able  to 
save  thousands  from  death  or  misery. 


9 


I  think  I  have  never  been  impressed  with 
anything  so  much  in  my  life  as  I  have  with  the 
development  in  Great  Britain,  a  country  with 
a  people  less  than  half  our  own,  which  had  a 
standing  army  of  only  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  soldiers  on  the  first  day  of  August, 
1914;  and  today  with  five  million  soldiers 
equipped  and  on  the  field.  Have  they  stopped 
there!  Not  at  all.  They  have  a  Eed  Cross  ac- 
tivity in  every  nation  of  the  world  now  engaged 
in  battle  on  the  other  side — perfectly  marvelous! 
Would  not  one  be  apt  to  think  Great  Britain  has 
enough  to  do  to  take  care  of  the  seas  and  to 
raise  an  army  of  five  million  men,  without  think- 
ing of  sending  her  ambulances  all  through  South 
Africa,  into  Eg}^pt,  into  the  Balkans,  into  Russia, 
as  well  as  into  France?  But  they  have  failed 
nowhere — and  this  alongside  of  their  wonderful 
military  undertakings. 

Immediately  our  soldiers  go  into  camp,  their 
dependent  families  will  become  a  problem.  Ob- 
viously, in  a  country  the  size  of  our  own,  the 
proper  and  practical  way  to  distribute  both  the 
burdens  and  the  benefits  fairly  and  uniformly 
will  be  through  the  Government  itself.  This  is  es- 
pecially fitting  when  voluntary  contributions  must 
meet  such  enormous  requirements  in  other  fields. 
There  will  undoubtedly  arise  a  large  number  of 
special  cases  requiring  additional  or  unusual  as 
sistance.    Such  assistance  should  be  made  sys- 


10 


tematic  largely  through  local  chapters  of  the 
Red  Cross. 


The  Red  Cross  a  Foster  Parent. 


When  our  men  go  to  France,  we  must  not 
only  prepare  to  take  care  of  them  when  sick  and 
wounded:  another  very  serious  problem  will  con- 
front them  and  will  confront  us  in  our  care  and 
forethought  on  their  behalf.  Englishmen  and 
Frenchmen,  when  from  time  to  time  they  are 
relieved  from  their  grim  duties  in  the  trenches, 
go  home.  The  soldiers  from  other  countries  on 
the  firing  line  cannot  go  home;  there  is  no  home 
to  go  to!  They  go  to  Paris.  Many  of  them  do 
not  return  from  Paris  as  efficient  soldiers  as 
they  were  when  they  went  there.  Our  American 
soldiers  must  have  a  home  in  France,  somewhere 
to  rest,  somewhere  to  find  a  friendly  atmosphere, 
somewhere  to  go  for  recreation  and  wholesome 
amusement.  These  men  will  be  returning  to  this 
country  some  day.  We  want  to  make  it  certain 
that  as  many  as  possible  return  in  health  and 
strength,  and  not  afflicted  with  disease  from 
which  our  forethought  might  have  protected 
them.  The  Red  Cross  must — and  it  alone  can — 
become  a  real  Foster  Parent  of  our  soldiers  while 
they  are  in  Europe.  To  perform  that  function 
well  will  require  a  large  sum  of  money. 


11 


Tuberculosis  in  France. 


The  needs  of  France  cannot  but  stir  the  heart 
of  every  American.  Tuberculosis  has  become 
prevalent  as  a  result  of  this  trench  war.  And 
the  disease  is  spreading.  Here  is  a  call  not  only 
to  aid  the  brave  and  liberty-loving  French 
l^eople,  but  also  to  help  make  this  afflicted 
country  healthy  for  our  own  sons  and  brothers 
who  are  soon  to  be  there  in  such  great  numbers. 

Some  1500  towns  and  villages  have  been  de- 
stroyed in  France.  In  her  devastated  regions, 
men,  women  and  children  are  homeless  and  suf- 
fering for  the  barest  necessities  of  life.  We 
ought  at  the  earliest  moment  to  provide  these 
people  with  the  simplest  essentials  to  begin 
life  anew.  They  need  clothing,  agricultural 
implements,  domestic  animals,  especially  horses 
and  cows,  seeds,  fertilizers,  tools,  bedding,  stoves 
and  the  elementary  materials  with  wiiich  to 
cover  themselves  by  day  and  by  night.  Some 
idea  can  be  formed  of  the  amount  involved  in 
such  an  undertaking  with  the  knowledge  that 
Mr.  Hoover  through  his  magnificent  organiza- 
tion, has  advanced  for  Governments  and  from 
private  subscriptions  $350,000,000  for  relief  in 
Belgium.  If  there  were  no  thought  of  protec- 
tion and  provision  for  our  own  people  in  France, 
can  we  hesitate  to  provide  generously  from  our 
plenty  that  we  may  show  some  appreciation  of 


12 


our  everlasting  debt  to  the  people  of  our  sister 
republic? 

The  great  need  of  Russia. 

We  should  do  something  and  do  it  immediate- 
ly to  hearten  afflicted  Russia.  On  the  Eussian 
line  of  1,000  miles  there  are  only  6,000  am- 
bulances, while  on  the  French  front  of  400  miles 
there  are  64,000  ambulances  fully  equipped.  Be- 
hind the  lines  in  Russia  are  millions  of  refugees 
from  Poland,  Lithuania  and  Western  Russia — 
driven  from  their  homes  by  the  German  and  Aus- 
trian armies,  wandering  from  city  to  city, 
crowded  into  unfit  habitations,  huddled  in 
stables,  cellars  and  outhouses,  and  dying  from 
disease  due  to  exposure  and  insufficient  food. 

Russia  needs  our  trained  women  to  instruct 
hers  in  the  art  of  nursing;  she  needs  enormous 
quantities  of  the  elementary  articles  necessary 
to  relieve  the  very  worst  cases  of  pain  and 
suffering.  Probably  nothing  that  can  be  done 
immediately  will  do  more  to  win  this  war  than 
to  strengthen  Russia.  The  opportunity  and  the 
duty  here  alone  are  almost  without  limit  in  ex- 
tent. Our  Red  Cross  is  the  one  agency  which 
can  exert  itself  effectively  in  this  terrible  emer- 
gency. 

The  foregoing  are  but  the  greater  and  *  more 
urgent  needs  of  the  moment.     Other  work  of 


13 


great  magnitude  must  be  done.  Our  Red  Cross 
must  maintain  a  supply  service  whereby  all 
the  contributions  in  kind  which  our  people  make 
can  be  efficiently  distributed.  We  must  organize 
comprehensive  plans  to  keep  the  families  and 
friends  of  our  soldiers  and  sailors  informed  as 
to  the  wounded  and  missing. 


Needs  greater  than  ever  known. 

Indeed  the  duties  and  the  opportunities  which 
confront  our  Red  Cross  have  no  precedent  in 
history  and  are  not  within  human  estimate 
today.  The  War  Council,  however,  can  make 
definite  plans  and  budgets  only  to  the  extent  to 
which  it  is  supported  by  the  generosity  of  the 
American  jDeople. 

At  the  moment,  the  real  question  is  not  so 
much  how  much  money  we  need  but  rather  how 
much  can  be  spent  wisely  and  made  effective 
in  the  immediate  future.  The  War  Council, 
therefore,  after  carefully  considering  the  matter, 
is  certain  that  even  to  approach  compliance  with 
the  most  pressing  needs  will  require  at  least 
$100,000,000. 

It  is  an  enormous  problem;  it  must  be  handled 
with  a  big  heart,  with  a  broad  vision,  and  with 
the  highest  business  ability.  The  War  Council 
regards  its  task  as  a  very  sacred  trust  and  it  will 


14 


give  to  this  labor  of  humanity  the  best  ability 
at  its  command. 


All  helping,  America  will  not  fail. 

If  each  individual  American  now  contributes 
his  "bit/'  there  can  be  no  failure.  America  will, 
we  feel  sure,  in  this  again  demonstrate  her  ability 
to  handle  a  big  task  in  a  big  way.  That  we  may 
be  able  to  perform  this  great  task,  we  shall  ap- 
peal to  the  generosity  and  for  the  hearty  co- 
operation of  the  whole  American  people. 

Are  the  people  of  this  country  going  to  be 
content  with  a  Red  Cross  organization  which  will 
take  care  of  only  our  own  army  here  and  abroad? 
Is  that  our  mission?  If  it  is,  then  we  need  no 
such  campaign.  Eather,  are  we  going  to  stamp 
the  rest  of  the  world  with  patriotism  and  an 
appreciation  on  the  part  of  one  hundred  and 
four  million  Am.erican  people?  It  remains  for 
each  and  all  of  you  to  so  imbue  the  rest  of  the 
people  in  your  various  and  respective  localities 
that  we  will  respond  in  a  way  which  will  electrify 
the  world! 

If,  in  making  a  survey  of  the  obligations 
and  opportunities  of  our  Eed  Cross,  a  gloomy  pic- 
ture is  drawn,  we  must  not  be  discouraged,  but 
rather  rejoice  in  this  undertaking  and  in  the  con- 
fidence that  we  can  by  our  voluntary  action  ren- 


15 


der  a  service  to  our  afflicted  allies  which  will  for 
all  time  be  a  source  of  pride  and  satisfaction  in 
a  good  deed  well  done.  As  President  Wilson  has 
said:  ''But  a  small  proportion  of  our  people  can 
have  the  opportunity  to  serve  upon  the  actual 
field  of  battle,  but  all  men,  women  and  children 
alike  may  serve,  and  serve  effectively.''  We 
must  and  will  all  immediately  concentrate  our 
energies  and  efforts  and  by  contributing  freely  to 
this  supreme  cause,  help  win  the  war. 


16 


